What Is the Danger In Being a Middle-Class Comfortable Christian?

Being a Christian these days in America is very comfortable, middle-class, and respectable. What are the dangers in that?

The
Bible is really clear in 1 Timothy 6:9 that making godliness a means of
gain--financial gain--is deadly; and the deadliness of it is in the
desire to be rich. It says to not desire to be rich, because "those who
desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many
senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and
destruction." In other words, it is suicidal to want to be rich.

One
of the main dangers in being comfortable in our Christianity is that
over time comfort tends to begin to feel like something that God--or
the world--owes us; and what we once called "luxury" is now called
"need." More and more we want things, and securities, and comforts.
And we find our conversations with people even drifiting onto the
subject of special new things that we have just bought and we're not
talking Kingdom language anymore. It's a creeping kind of gangrene with
a smiling face on it that eats away at the heart of the Kingdom.

When
Jesus said Matthew 6:31-33--"Do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we
eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For all the
nations seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that
you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness, and all these things will be added to you"--he was
pleading for us to not get into a situation where we're drowning in
stuff. In other words, "Give yourself to mental and emotional energies that concern
Kingdom issues, and let food and clothing and drink take care of
themselves." And we get it almost entirely backwards.

We get into
situations where we talk about what we wear, and about food and toys and houses, and only now and then a Kingdom issue arises
and Christ comes into the conversation. I think Jesus is grieved by
that and would have us turn it around.

Talk about Christ, and
missions, and ministry, and making an impact for Jesus. Oh yes,
you need a place to stay. Sure, you need a way to get around. Sure, you
probably need a computer these days, so that you can communicate by
email. But let your conversation and your energy flow mainly with Kingdom
vision and Kingdom issues.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

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